(CNN) – Hillary Clinton’s argument that she is the Democratic contender best-equipped to win the “big states” the party needs to capture the White House took a slight hit Thursday with the release of a new survey that seems to suggest Barack Obama is better-positioned to win California – a state where she won last month’s primary contest.

A new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California indicates if the election were held today, Obama would hold a 49-40 percent advantage over McCain in a hypothetical fall matchup there. Clinton’s 43-40 percent edge over McCain falls just outside the survey’s margin of error. Fifty-seven percent of independent voters in the state have a favorable view of Obama, while just 35 percent say they like Clinton.

The survey of 2,002 California voters was conducted by telephone from March 11-18, and has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

soundoff(172 Responses)

Clinton's supporters cry about every non-Clinton story being media bias and all that garbage. Get over it, Clinton is doing terribly and the press is simply pointing it out.

March 27, 2008 02:41 pm at 2:41 pm |

shane

THe scary thing about this poll for Hillary Clinton is that it was taken March 11-18, which was during the REV wright FLAP. And it was taken PRIOR to the Bosnia lie. Also a NEW poll out shows her with an unfavorable rating of 48%, which is a new high for her. FOX news, MSNBC, and CNN have this same poll posted on their websites. It also shows the REV wright flap had only a slight affecton obama's favorable ratings . He dropped 2%. All of these Hillary extremists talking about voting for Mccain if obama wins are absolute scum. Im a big obama supporter but i will never vote for John Mccain! But hey John mccain voted for the war and so did Hillary, so i guess they are not that different after all. No wonder why her supporters tend to say theyll vote for Mccain. They dont mind 100 years in Iraq. They just care about their Hillar winning.

March 27, 2008 02:42 pm at 2:42 pm |

Veronica

CNN get your nose out of Obama's butt, you're beginning to smell as much as he does. Obama will not unite this Nation, he is a liar and hate monger. Their is a lot more negative about him if you CNN would tell the truth.

March 27, 2008 02:42 pm at 2:42 pm |

Robert

To all you Obama Supporters,

Hillary is not splitting the party, she finishing the game. Fact is Obama cannot win either. It is going to overtime. How would you feel if you were at a football or basketball game and your team was down at halftime? Would you want them to walk away and forfeit the game?

And further, Supers are the overtime voters. You have no right to tell them how to vote, just as nobody has a right to tell you how to vote. It isn't there job to give it to the person who has a slight edge. It is their job to vote for who they feel can win based on more than just the virtual tie that makes their votes come into play. Quit being such hypocrites.

March 27, 2008 02:43 pm at 2:43 pm |

txpoodoo

With McCain being a left wing Republican this general election contest WILL be about courting as many indepedents as possible. I'm sorry die hard Republicans and Democrats, this time the indepedents will shine.

The Democratic nominee will HAVE to be the person who wins more indepedents than McCain. There is no questioning that. Obama, has showed time and time again he does not only well among Democrats, but also a suprising amount of Republicans and VERY well among Indepedents (thats me btw). Mrs. Clinton, has shown an unfortunate ability to alienate Indepedents. The numbers don't lie. (Unlike her...lol)

Mark my words, the nominee who gets more indepedent votes in Nov. will be the President.

Those Clinton supporters who say they will vote McCain over Obama if Hillary loses the nomination. I would love to talk to you a year later when McCain is President and you are crying your eyes out because you are complaining that the government does nothing to help ordinary Americans.

March 27, 2008 02:43 pm at 2:43 pm |

Los Angeles for Obama

Momentum here in Los Angeles is growing. I see Obama bumper stickers everywhere. At the gym they are selling Obama Momma tshirts. Hillary has turned off a very important state.

March 27, 2008 02:44 pm at 2:44 pm |

Jim

When is obama going to get out of this race, there is no way he can win. He should just bow out now. Don't go away mad, just go away.

March 27, 2008 02:44 pm at 2:44 pm |

Gary

It's not a big deal, look at the national polls, HILLARY is still leading at a comfortable margin. 2000 people vs. millions in CA population? And what about NY, NJ, TX, FL, MA, OH & PA? Don't tell me he's leading there too? CNN, you are one biased station, I love you!!!!!!

March 27, 2008 02:45 pm at 2:45 pm |

California Dem

I believe this poll to be 100% accurate. I'm another California Democrat that voted for Obama in the primary and wouldn't dream of ever voting for Hillary, based on her utter lack of character. However I will say that I'd never dream of voting for John McCain. No, if Hillary were somehow able to steal away the nomination I'd have to cast a protest vote for Ralph Nader.

March 27, 2008 02:45 pm at 2:45 pm |

Arthur-Texas

The new poll does not take into account the large numbers of Latino and Asian voters that will not vote for Obama in the general election.That will make Mccain the likely winner in November.Independents will split between Nader and Mccain.

March 27, 2008 02:46 pm at 2:46 pm |

cc, Chicago

Remember, Hillary Clinton only won California by 10% with 25% of Californians voting early. There weren't many debates or avenues for people to get to know Obama with respect to the early voters. The actual votes cast on primary day were extremely close between the two. So, after almost 2 months of continuing to get to know Obama and seeing more from Hillary Clinton's campaign, it's not surprising that support shifted in California in favor of one of the candidates.

March 27, 2008 02:47 pm at 2:47 pm |

Chris

Duh...you don't need polls to tell you that. Everyone now knows that Hillary lies through her teeth. She is a liar and always have been. They have been cheating all they way through her so called "35 years". People are smarter than that and seeing through this. What I don't understand is that, why are people voting for her even after knowing how FRAUD she is? Will she be here if she was a man? Or will she be out long time ago.

/Obama for President.

March 27, 2008 02:47 pm at 2:47 pm |

shariff

Hillary is the same old washington.what gives her the right to lie about
being shoot at .this is disrespect look at all the troops she dishor. this why she is can't be our leader

March 27, 2008 02:49 pm at 2:49 pm |

Arnold, WV

You will continue to see more and more of these kind of polls unless Hillary does what is best for her party and goes back home to New York.The only way for her to win is to totally destroy Obama.So far her best shots havn't worked.As a registered Republican I might consider voting for Obama.I would write in Lou Dobbs before voting for Hillary

March 27, 2008 02:50 pm at 2:50 pm |

fred

I think it is funny about all of the polls that are taken. One poll is the voters who will not vote for barack because they support Hillary, about 37% of hillary voters said they wouldn;t vote for barack in the general election but only 18% of barack supporters wouldn't vote for Hillary. So, you Hillary supporters are going to vote for another bush and then cry aobut the poor job he is doing. Then the only people you have to blame is yourself. Let's stop putting the blame on other people and start putting the blame on where it belongs.

March 27, 2008 02:50 pm at 2:50 pm |

Linda

This isn't surprising in the least. CA's primary took place before Hillary revealed her super-negative-win-at-all-costs-to-hell-with-democracy side. The only people having "buyer's remorse" are Clinton supporters, because HER personality is the one that has changed so drastically in the last 2 months. Obama is pretty much the same candidate he was at the start of the race.

And to all you WHINERS complaining about CNN posting this as news, well guess what – IT IS NEWS! Your candidate is the one who keeps pushing the whole "big state" argument, so a poll that indicates Obama doing better than her in the BIGGEST state is very relevant. I know the truth hurts, but deal with it.

March 27, 2008 02:51 pm at 2:51 pm |

Rick in Florida

SUZY...........The Puerto Rico Governor actually came out for HILLARY, and NOT for Obama. You seem to be catching what Hillary has........ fabricate the story if it doesn't suit your needs. Go drink your Koolaid and let the rest of the country have an HONEST candidate (not her!!)

(and I'm one of those Independents who go with Obama or McCain)

March 27, 2008 02:51 pm at 2:51 pm |

Jazz

All the polls said Hillary would LOSE NH by double digits. Most of the pundits were pleased and some were even euphoric. When the results were in they were at a loss for an explanation. The lesson is you should take polls with a grain of salt. Sample size and composition as well as the phrasing of the questions can all be manipulated to acheive the results you want. Always remember someone pays for the poll.
As the Hispanic and Asian vote goes, so goes California. Older black voters are taking note of the "mistreatment" of Hillary. they also don't like that the black church was thrown under the bus with grandma. Unlike the young voter, older voters actually vote in November. The nomination can't be stolen because Obama doesn't own it.

March 27, 2008 02:59 pm at 2:59 pm |

The Perpetual Student

I am an Obama supporter but I am beginning to get turned off by all the sniping and infighting from BOTH SIDES! All this does is create division and animosity in the party and in the general public and help the news organizations.

March 27, 2008 03:01 pm at 3:01 pm |

GObama '08 Nashville, TN

I sure wish that someone woule pull the plug in Hillary Clinton. Her Husband, Bill, has made a mockery out of his legacy. Hillary is destroying the prospect of ever having a legacy. (But she may embellish one anyways just like the Bosnia sniper fire incident.) I have never trusted her. In addition what is she hiding anyway. Please release you tax returns so this race can be over and done with. We all know that the tax returns will put an end to her candidacy!!!!

March 27, 2008 03:04 pm at 3:04 pm |

Rena

Hillary will not and should not be President, If she will tell a lie about Bosnia ( Which was unnessary) How can we believe anything she says? And then say she misspoke. not that many words. Obama ithe best canidate for this job.Sincehe can`t be speared personally, Go after someone he knows who is not even in the race for President. GO OBAMA08

March 27, 2008 03:07 pm at 3:07 pm |

Quincy, Chicago, Illinois

I truly believe in the end, the American people will migrate to the best possible representative of "ALL" of the United States citizens for President Of the United States.

In all that I seen and heard over the course of this current election process, Sen. Obama appears to be the best hope for this nation and it's future course domestically and Internationally. He also would have been a great choice in 2000 and 2004. Wouldn't it have been great to avoid the mess and pain of 9/11. Wouldn't it have been great to avoid the current economic crisis we are now in. Wouldn't it have been great to have a real executive watching over FEMA and not an oil tycoon.

Some of you Obama haters, and I do mean haters, need to read what the international citizens think of our election process, our current president and our 2008 candidate hopefuls. The rest of the world wants Sen. Obama to work with them. Not the other two choices. The only International executives that want to work with the other candidates are those who like things just the way they are and want to continue getting fat off US tax dollars.

I have witnessed countless negative comments about all of the candidates that have absolutely nothing to do with the issues surrounding and affecting each and every American life. All I can do for those who harbor those hateful thoughts and ideals is to wish you a peaceful life and respectfully ask that you do just a little homework before spewing hateful thoughts in black and white that only incite others to be hateful and cruel. All of the candidates deserve a chance to tell the people what they can do to help us and to make us a strong and working nation. A nation to be respected by it's citizens and the rest of the world.

I personally think that we have tried elected officials that have no personal background in Islamic culture and the only thing they can arrive at for diplomacy is either kill them, lie to them, steal from them or conquer them. Now I guess we could keep electing folks that have that mentality, but, we shouldn't be too surprised when those attrocities happen right back to us. Goodness, that sure sounds familiar.

California appears to be telling the US and the rest of the world something. Now, maybe the rest of the states can stop drinking the Jim Jones juice and see things they way they should be and need to be, not business as usual,. Because as we all can see, business as usual doesn't work very well for ALL OF US!